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  3. Over the past 50 years, expansive, low density communities have proliferated at the edges of many cities in the United States an

Over the past 50 years, expansive, low density communities have proliferated at the edges of many cities in the United States an

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问题     Over the past 50 years, expansive, low density communities have proliferated at the edges of many cities in the United States and Canada, creating a phenomenon known as suburhan sprawl.
    Andres Duany, Elizabeth Flater-Zyberk, and Jeff Speck, a group of prominent town planners belonging to a movement called New Urbanism, contend that suburban sprawl contributes to the decline of civic life and civility. For reasons involving the flow of automobile traffic, they note, zoning laws usually dictate that suburban homes, stores, businesses, and schools be built in separate areas, and this separation robs people of communal space where they can interact and get to know one another. It is as difficult to imagine the concept of community without a town square or local pub, these town planners contend, as it is to imagine the concept of family independent of the house.
    Suburban housing subdivisions, Duany and his colleagues add, usually contain homes identical not only in appearance but also in price, resulting in a de facto economic segregation of residential neighborhoods. Children growing up in these neighborhoods, whatever their economic circumstances, are certain to be ill prepared for life in a diverse society. Moreover, because the widely separated suburban homes and businesses are connected only by "collector roads," residents areforccd to drive, often in heavy traffic, in order to perform many daily tasks. Time that would in a town center involve social interaction within a physical public realm is now spent inside the automobile, where people cease to be community members andinstead become motorists, competing for road space, often acting antisocially. Pedestrians rarely act in this manner toward each other.
    Duany and his colleagues advocate development based on early-twentieth century urban neighborhoods that mix housing of different prices and offer residents a "gratifying public realm" that includes narrow, tree-lined streets,parks, corner grocery stores, cafes, small-neighborhood schools, all within walking distance. This, they believe, would give people of diverse backgrounds and lifestyles an opportunity to interact and thus develop mutual respect.
    Opponents of New Urbanism claim that migrationto sprawling suburbs is an expression of people’s legitimate desire to secure the enjoyment and personal mobility provided by the automobile and thelifestyle that it makes possible. However, the New Urbanists do not question people’s right to their own values; instead, they suggest that we should take a more critical view of these values and of the sprawl-conducive zoning and subdivision policies that reflect them. New Urbanists are fundamentally concerned with the long-term social costs of the now-prevailing attitude that individual mobility, consumption, and wealth should be valued absolutely, regardless of their impact on community life.
To which of the following statements would New Urbanists most likely agree?
选项 A、Suburban sprawl contributes to the thriving of civic life and civility.
B、Children growing up in urban neighborhoods were ill prepared for life in a diverse society.
C、Early-twentieth century urban neighborhoods should be the model for the modern neighborhood development.
D、The automobile and the lifestyle that it makes possible bring people enjoyment and personal mobility.
答案D
解析 本题考查考生对文章所述城市郊区扩展现象的特点以及这种现象的反对者们所持观点的理解和把握，具有一定的难度。首先应该清楚文章讨论的对象是郊区扩展现象，而他的对立面则是新城市主义，本题问得是新城市主义者们的观点。A选项出现在第二段第一句，这些新城市主义者们认为郊区扩展促成了群体生活和社交文明的衰退(declinc)，而非兴盛(thriving)，这是出题人故意设置的迷惑选项。B选项出现在第三段新城市主义者们对郊区扩展现象弊端的具体论述当中，提到在这些社区长大的孩子们一定会对将采社会的多样化准备不足，而B选项却偷换概念，将suburban neighborhoods变成了笼统意义上的urbanneighborhoods，因此错误。C选项出现在最后一段，恰恰是新城市主义的反时者们所持的观点。也就是郊区扩展现象的特点，因此错误。在文章第四段中说道，“丹尼和他的同事们提倡以20世纪早期城市社区为基础进行发展”，丹尼和他的同事们就是新城市主义的代表，而以20世纪早期城市社区为基础进行发展就意味着二十世纪早期城市社区应该成为现代社区发展的模板，因此D是正确选项。
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